Chapter 12
Chapter
Twelve
“Okay,” I say, because figuring out where to start is harder than it sounds. “Right. So.” I uncross my legs. Then I cross them again.
Tia cocks her head. “You’re making me insane. Just spit it out.”
“I don’t know where to start.”
“Anywhere.” She literally throws her hands up. “Just give me a high point. You rode a dragon. You shot electricity out of your eyeballs.”
“Fingers,” I correct.
“Whoa. You did?”
“And I slept with a king,” I blurt.
She freezes, then her eyes go wide. “Okay, wasn’t expecting that, but definitely a solid choice for where to start.” She cocks her head. “We’re talking Adric, right? I mean, you were in his realm, so…”
“Yeah,” I say, then point to the vial at my neck. “The Nightmare Realm version of an engagement ring.”
“Whoa,” she repeats, then leans back. “That’s like…honestly, I don’t know what that’s like. But what’s in the vial? Magic stuff?”
“Kinda.”
She reaches for the vial, then holds it as I add, “His blood.”
“Ewwww.” Her whole face scrunches as she lets the vial go, sending it back to settle against my neck with enough velocity to make me wince.
“That’s creepy as fuck.”
I grimace. “Well, it is a nightmare realm.”
“How? Why? I mean, it’s kinda crazy, right?”
“Oh, yeah,” I say, then settle in to tell her everything. About the wolves. About Whistler and Chase. About there being no cure except Chase’s own untainted blood. And about using Adric’s blood to heal his brother, the man with whom he once shared a body.
“Adric saved him?” Tia asks. “I thought they pretty much hated each other.” And then, before I even have time to answer, she adds, “Oh! The engagement. You were the price.”
“Pretty much.”
For a moment, she just studies me. Then a slow smile touches her lips as her eyes glint with mischief. “And you don’t mind too much. Oh, my god. You like him.”
“I hate you,” I say.
“You love me,” she counters. “And two guys gone for you? Hell, if I didn’t have Riley, I’d totally hate you. I mean, two ultra-hot guys with superpowers? Pretty awesome.”
“Yes,” I say dryly. “My life is like a Marvel movie, minus the bazillion-dollar budget.”
She grimaces. “Sorry. I do get it. Not exactly stress-free, huh?”
“Especially not since they hate each other.”
“So I guess the scary king from your dreams isn’t that scary after all?”
My smile blooms as I think of Adric, then disappears with a shudder when a vision of those executions fills my head.
I focus on my toes as I shrug. “He has his moments.”
“Wait a sec,” she says, her brow furrowing. “You’re engaged to the Nightmare King. And you slept with him? Like, really did the deed? Not just some off-in-dreamy-cloud-land sex?”
I offer a half-nod. “So?”
Her eyes narrow. “You actually, really, flesh and blood fucked the King of the freaking Nightmare Realm.”
“Well, yeah. I mean, I just told you that.”
“Are you insane?”
I lean back. Or, more accurately, I’m pushed back by the force of her words. “Possibly,” I snap. “What’s your excuse?”
“Hello? Barriers falling. You brought the damn things down. Don’t you think you should have led with that? I mean, I don’t even have an evac kit ready, and I sure as hell don’t—”
“Stop.” I reach out and grab her arm. “The prophecy wasn’t triggered. The barriers are fine.”
“But—”
“Consummation,” I say. “We’re not married. And I told him that I would never sleep with him after we are married.” I shoot her a wicked grin. “To be honest, I’m hoping we just stay perpetually engaged.”
“Oh.” Then, “Oooh.” She’s quiet for a moment. “Chase must be losing his shit.”
Guilt does a nice little spin through my bloodstream. “Yeah, well, he’s not exactly thrilled with the development, that’s for sure.”
“So he knows.”
I nod.
“And now?”
“I won’t be the cause of the barriers falling. So I told Adric I won’t sleep with him after we’re married. But while we’re just engaged...” I shrug. “And I also told him that I won’t give up Chase.
“Wow.” Her eyes are huge. “Two seriously hot guys, one who’s a freaking king, and you’ve got them both on a leash.”
I grimace. I hardly think either Chase or Adric can be tamed. But for a moment, I let Tia have her glee. She is way too pleased with my predicament, and somehow that makes the predicament seem like something that maybe—hopefully—I can get through and still be sane on the other side.
“What about Whistler?” she asks, her voice going soft.
I just shake my head. “Don’t make me talk about it. I almost lost Chase. We all lost Whistler.” I shudder. “Kali’s horrible wolves. They attacked when we crashed.”
She nods. “Mr. Griffin and I could tell something was wrong from the monitors, but we couldn’t tell what.”
“We thought he was the scary thing out to get us,” I whisper. “That’s where we should have his memorial. That path where he rescued us from Vex.”
“Yeah,” she says. “We should.”
For a moment, silence hangs between us. “I’ll bring candles,” she finally whispers. “Fancy ones. He’d hate that.”
I laugh through my tears. “Yeah. That’s perfect.”
“Then it’s settled.”
Silence hangs for another beat, then she clears her throat. “Tell me the rest of it. Everything that happened.”
And so I take her through the days in the Nightmare Realm, leaving almost nothing out, and when I tell her about the glorious experience of riding through the night sky on the back of a dragon, she sighs.
“You’d like the realm,” I tell her. “It’s scary in places, but beautiful, too. A desolate kind of beauty.”
“Maybe someday,” she says. “I mean, I have to go if you get married. Can’t have a wedding without your maid of honor.”
We share a grin. But the truth is, she’s not wrong.
Married.
Me.
And to a king.
A king who lives in another dimension and whose brother I love.
I sigh. Every day, my life gets just a little bit weirder.
I don’t tell her about the rebellion and the executions, though. Mostly because, although I was horrified by those executions, I still don’t have the bigger picture. All I know is that there’s a threat against Adric. And love him or not, I don’t want to see him hurt.
“What?” Tia says. “You’ve got that look.”
“Just, I don’t know. My life, I guess. It’s gotten kinda complicated.”
“And the Understatement of the Year Award goes to Cora Lyte.”
I take a bow. “Should we go find Riley and food?”
“Have you caught me up?”
“Pretty much,” I say.
“All right, then.” She clears her throat. “Stay tuned for next week’s episode of The Bold and the Brideful,” she says in an announcer-style voice that seems to echo off the small room’s walls.
I roll my eyes. “A soap opera? Seriously?”
“Well, that plus Wuthering Heights. Plus Game of Thrones.”
“That about sums it up,” I say. “Thanks.”
“Always ready to help.” She shifts to look at me. “Speaking of help, Riley knows everything now.”
“Mr. Griffin told us. Glad she’s on the team. And by the way, what’s going on with the Widow Maker?”
“Griffin didn’t fill you in?”
“I asked him to. He said you’d explain it.”
“Just these weird readings that—wait.” Her eyes narrow. “You asked him? How did you know about that in the first place?”
I grimace, then come clean about my jaunt to the Real with Adric.
She lands two hands on my shoulders and shoves me back. “You evil bitch. You didn’t even say hi.”
“I know, I know! Adric wouldn’t let me. He only brought me because I was homesick. A betrothal present.”
She twists her mouth up and narrows her eyes at me. “Fine. You get a pass. But don’t spy on me across realms again. Remember, you’re a heavy sleeper, and I am not squeamish. Could make for some interesting bedtime companions.”
I shudder. “Message received. But about Riley and the Widow Maker...?”
“I’ll let her explain it. My brain would just explode.”
I want to push, but I don’t. We need to get the whole team together today, anyway.
“So what else has been going on?” I ask.
She pulls a face. “Riley made me stop burning sage.”
“What? Why?”
“Smoke alarm. Three times in one day. Riley said, and I quote, ‘Babe, your lungs.’”
I grin. “I kinda love Riley.”
“I’m pretty sure I love Riley,” she says softly.
I cock my head, grinning. “Pretty sure?”
“I don’t want to jinx it. Tell me more about you.”
“I thought we were heading out. Food and Riley.”
“We are.” She crosses her arms. “Once you’ve told me everything.”
“I have.”
She tilts her head and gives me that look.
I go pour myself a coffee, then take a sip without waiting for it to cool down.
“Powers,” I mumble.
“What?”
“That’s the next thing. I have powers.”
“Of course you do.”
“I made a tent.”
“You what?”
“Burgundy silk. Gold cushions. I held my hand out, and it was just there.”
“Whoa. That’s freakishly awesome.”
“And when all hell broke loose during the crash, I held out my hand and said this word—Reverti—and a mare that was about to attack turned away from me. Like I was the queen of the universe or something. And there was a blast—from my hand. Silver and gold, sparkly stuff threaded together. I walloped a mare with it when we first arrived. It was freaky but totally awesome. And Chase said today that I’ve got powers.
Or I will have. I’m guessing that’s where that blast came from. ”
“For a moment, Tia just stares at me, her mouth slightly open.
“Earth to Tia?”
“Um, yeah.” She cocks her head. “That’s like, wow. Can you show me?”
I shrug. “I don’t have it in the Real yet. Chase said it’s coming. For that matter, I’m not sure how much I have in the realms. And probably shouldn’t try it without asking Chase. For all I know, every time I do something like that, it opens a door for a mare. “
“Well, at least it’s coming. One of us should have some magic. It might come in handy.”
“Tia…”
She shakes her head. “No, I’m not jealous. Well, a little. But I really am happy to have some magic mojo on our side. Maybe you can magic out a way to get mine back, and we can be the Dynamic Duo.”
I reach for her hand. “We already are.”
She matches my grin, then jumps when her phone chimes.
“Riley,” she says, snatching it up and reading the text.
“She’s heading to Griff’s,” she tells me. “Lots to share, and she doesn’t want to wait.”
“The sooner the better,” I say, then slide off the bed. “Let’s go.”